"Requiem For A Stripper" drabbles by Christopher
Jake Randolph in "Requiem For A Stripper" Pt. 76
Requiem For A Stripper #76
I needed to know if the club owners were a part of supplying girls to The Immoral Society or if they were bypassed entirely and just gotten through Hoofers.
Minga scoffed, "You ain't gettin' in to see the boss."
"I'll get in. Either following you... or stepping over your unconscious body," I said as I clenched my fists.
He put his hands up, "There's no need for that, Mr. Randolph. I'll take you to him. Just follow me, please."
I knew he was leading me into a trap. I just had to hope I could get myself out of it...
Jake Randolph in "Requiem For A Stripper" Pt. 75
Requiem For A Stripper #75
The bartender came back through the door and behind him was a medium sized guy with jet black hair that looked like an oil slick. It wasn't Klaus Schmidt. I'd seen him before. This guy had a pinstriped suit on his body and a devious look on his face.
He came up to me at the bar, putting his manicured hand out.
"Hello, I'm Nicky Minga, assistant manager of The Pink Pussycat. What's yer name, pal?"
I stood up but declined the handshake.
I decided on the direct approach.
"Jake Randolph."
"The private dick?"
"And I want to see Schmidt."
Jake Randolph in "Requiem For A Stripper" Pt. 74
Requiem For A Stripper #74
He stopped wiping the bar again.
"She ain't here no more neither. Do you want another drink or not?" he asked in a belligerent tone.
"No, I'm okay with this one, thanks," I said as I took a sip.
He threw the towel down and walked from behind the bar, heading toward a nondescript door at the back of the place. He opened it and went through.
I could picture him in there telling Klaus Schmidt that there was some guy nosing around and asking about Lily and Candy.
Which is exactly what I wanted the little putz to do...
Jake Randolph in "Requiem For A Stripper" Pt. 73
Requiem For A Stripper #73
When the song concluded and the dancer finished bumping and grinding I turned back to the bartender.
"Say, mac. When does Candy Apple come on?"
He stopped wiping the bar for a brief moment and then started back.
"She ain't here."
"Oh, is she on another night?" I asked innocently.
"No, she ain't here no more," he said in a tone so deadpan it needed a eulogy.
"Oh, well that's too bad. I've been out of town for a while and I thought I'd come and see my two favorite dancers. The other is Lily Padd. Is she on tonight?"
Jake Randolph in "Requiem For A Stripper" Pt. 72
Requiem For A Stripper #72
I kept an eye on the girl on stage, so as not to arouse any suspicion. She was an attractive girl with fiery red hair and pale skin. And two breasts that would make watermelons feel inadequate.
I went up to the bar and ordered a bourbon on the rocks. The bartender was a short man with sunken eyes and cheeks that looked like corduroy. He put a glass with ice in it in front of me and grabbed a bottle of bourbon.
"Is that the good stuff?" I asked with a grin.
"As good as you'll get in here!"
Jake Randolph in "Requiem For A Stripper" Pt. 71
Requiem For A Stripper #71
I made it to The Pink Pussycat on Sepulveda Boulevard at about 11:45 pm. The sign on the door said Open 5 pm - Closed 1 am. I figured that would give me a little time to nose around and find out about the two strippers that went missing from here, Candy Apple and Lily Padd.
I went in to a repeat of what I saw earlier at the Daffodil. A bunch of guys hooting and hollering to women taking their clothes off. I didn't think you could ever get passé about a thing like that.
But apparently I already had...
Jake Randolph in "Requiem For A Stripper" Pt. 70
Requiem For A Stripper #70
I kissed Jen Ann before I left and told her I would talk to her the next day. She told me to be careful. She didn't know much about The Pink Pussycat but she'd heard it was a rough place.
It was a rough place. It was run by a German named Klaus Schmidt. He'd migrated to the USA just before Hitler came to power in Germany. He opened The Pink Pussycat club shortly after he arrived. No one knew where a poor German immigrant got the capital from to open a strip club, but it became an instant hit...
Jake Randolph in "Requiem For A Stripper" Pt. 69
Requiem For A Stripper #69
"You went to Hoofers?" she asked as she was buttoning up her sheer dress, a lemon colored one this time.
"Yeah. I signed up for classes so I could poke around there. And the name is Jacob Randall, but if we cross paths down there you don't know me. Got it?"
She nodded, "Got it, boss. I've got another show in 15 minutes. You gonna stick around?"
I shook my head, "I'm gonna run over to The Pink Pussycat before their last show. But I know I won't get as good a performance there as I got here!"
She grinned...
Jake Randolph in "Requiem For A Stripper" Pt. 68
Requiem For A Stripper #68
"You better not be backstage at either of those places!"
I grinned, "Well, I may have to go backstage, but I can assure you I won't be getting friendly with the girls."
"Good," she said.
"Let me ask you something. What's your take on the lady who runs Hoofers?"
"Linda Erickson?" she asked. "She seems to be desperate for male attention. And she doesn't seem to like girls too much."
"How do you mean?"
"Well, she just treats us like an afterthought. She flocks to any man that comes in there for dance lessons."
"Yeah, I got the same treatment."
Jake Randolph in "Requiem For A Stripper" Pt. 67
Requiem For A Stripper #67
"Well, I found out that there's some secret club in Hollywood that hires dancers for private parties. And they do it through Hoofers, among other places."
She didn't look shocked. "I always felt like there was something pretty queer about that place. Do you think that's why all the strippers are going missing?"
I shook my head, "I'm not sure. But Hoofers, and this Madame Helga, definitely need checking out. I'm also going to have to go to The Pink Pussycat and The Giant Clam to see what I can find out about the girls that went missing from there."
Jake Randolph in "Requiem For A Stripper" Pt. 66
Requiem For A Stripper #66
I'd like to say that wasn't the first time I'd ever had romantic relations against a broom closet door backstage at a strip club, but alas it was. Not that I led a sheltered life or anything, mind you.
"Well," I said after the situation, and our heartbeats, had calmed down a little bit, "I came to give you an update on your case, but I'll take a greeting like that any day!"
She smiled as she started getting dressed again. "Okay, so what's the update?"
"Well, not much," I said. "But I think I'm onto something."
"Okay, spill it."
Jake Randolph in "Requiem For A Stripper" Pt. 65
Requiem For A Stripper #65
I opened the door to find little more than a broom closet. But there was Jen Ann Tonic in all her glory, putting on a new sheer dress over her bra and panties to apparently go back out there and start the festivities all over again.
"Jake!" she screamed as she saw me. She ran over and kissed me as the girls outside the room all gave a collective Oooooohhh!
Jen closed the door and pushed me up against the back of it. Apparently dancing made her quite amorous.
She started unbuckling my belt as she continued kissing my lips...
Jake Randolph in "Requiem For A Stripper" Pt. 64
Requiem For A Stripper #64
"Sure ya do, pally," he said.
He was about to grab me and start shoving me toward the front door when he said, "Wait a minute. Are you Randolph?"
I nodded.
"She's expecting ya. Go on through."
"Thanks heaps, pally," I said and went into the back. There were several women in various states of undress eyeing me up more than I was them.
"Can someone please direct me to Jen Ann Tonic?" I asked in a loud voice.
Two or three of the girls pointed to a door in the back.
"Thank you," I said, heading for the door...
Jake Randolph in "Requiem For A Stripper" Pt. 63
Requiem For A Stripper #63
Jen Ann got a standing ovation as she waved to the crowd and then headed backstage. I finished my bourbon and started toward the back. There was an Italian guy guarding the door to the back that looked like the after picture in a Charles Atlas ad. And I was the before picture.
"Hey, pally. How's your hammer hanging?" I asked.
He just looked past me.
I started for the door. He put his meat hook out, sticking it into my chest.
"Nobody goes backstage...pally!" he said like a thunderstorm.
"But, I've got a date with Jen Ann Tonic, pally."
Jake Randolph in "Requiem For A Stripper" Pt. 62
Requiem For A Stripper #62
The place erupted into cheers as she spun around in just her bra, panties and a pair of black stiletto heels.
She started sliding down her bra straps and I thought she was about to break the law. In the golden state a stripper had to keep on her bra and panties. Some violated that law, of course, and that's why those kinds of places would frequently get raided, but I'd never heard that happening at the Gilded Daffodil.
The song was winding up just before her bra dropped, and she slid her straps back over her shoulders and smiled...
Jake Randolph in "Requiem For A Stripper" Pt. 61
Requiem For A Stripper #61
I watched Jen Ann dancing but wasn't that interested in the stripping part. I'd seen it all earlier that day, minus the sheer dress and everything else.
Once she got the front of the dress unbuttoned she let it hang open as she danced and twirled around, the spotlight following her like a man with bad intentions.
The crowd carried on their catcalls as she slowly pulled the dress off her left shoulder...
More hoots...
She let it slide off her arm...
Whooping and hollering...
Then she slid the other side off her right shoulder...
More cheers...
The dress fell...
Jake Randolph in "Requiem For A Stripper" Pt. 60
Requiem For A Stripper #60
"Alright, then!" the emcee yelled. "Give a big Gilded Daffodil welcome to everyone's favorite nightcap...Jen Ann Tonic!"
The crowd hollered as the band broke into a rendition of Cab Calloway's "Minnie The Moocher." The lights dimmed to just a spotlight on the floor in front of the bandstand.
Jen Ann emerged from the side of the stage, easing into the spotlight. She was wearing a sheer pink dress. You could see her bra and panties underneath. She started bumping and grinding to the music. The crowd continued whooping and hollering.
Then she slowly started unbuttoning the front of the dress...
Jake Randolph in "Requiem For A Stripper" Pt. 59
Requiem For A Stripper #59
The bartender handed me my drink and I asked, "When is Jenn Ann Tonic coming on?"
"Any minute now, pal," he responded as he wiped off the bar with a cloth that looked like it should've been retired years ago.
I took a sip of my watered down bourbon and waited.
After another couple of minutes the emcee came out. He was a tall man with a plaid jacket and pants and hair that had enough grease in it to fry a chicken.
"Gentlemen, are you ready for another drink?"
The place erupted with a cacophony of catcalls and hoots...
Jake Randolph in "Requiem For A Stripper" Pt. 58
Requiem For A Stripper #58
The decor inside was like any other strip joint. There were a lot of tables, a lot of horny men, a bandstand with a full orchestra, and a lot of smoke. The color scheme was primarily gold, with daffodils etched into everything: the walls, the bar, the tables, the curtains.
I went up to the bar and ordered a bourbon on the rocks. The bartender, who had a face that read like a dime store novel, just nodded at me.
The band was just finishing up "The Lady Is A Tramp."
Quite an appropriate song for this venue, I thought...
Jake Randolph in "Requiem For A Stripper" Pt. 57
Requiem For A Stripper #57
She said anytime on the drinks, so I told her I'd be back on Monday for my class and we'd have that drink then.
I left and headed for The Gilded Daffodil to watch Jen Ann's performance.
I got to Figueroa Street about a quarter to ten and pulled in to the parking lot of the club. There was a gold daffodil on the sign, and the two columns holding up the entrance to the club were also gold daffodils.
I went through the double doors and stepped inside.
I'd seen forest fires that weren't as smoky as this place...